


sink your teeth in

by schweeet



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Christopher Diaz is a National Treasure, Don't Kill Me, First Kiss, Getting Together, I almost said like Daniel but I couldn't do it, I saw it on a meme, M/M, Romance, Romantic Fluff, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, no beta we die like women, too soon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-19 07:28:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29622738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/schweeet/pseuds/schweeet
Summary: “Buddy, we don’t go through toothbrushes that quickly ‒ you were only supposed to get a two-pack!” Eddie laughs.“The yellow one is for Buck!”Christopher continues past him down the aisle towards the register with a smile and Eddie’s brain just . . . stops.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz
Comments: 48
Kudos: 864





	sink your teeth in

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Restricted Work] by [mansikka](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mansikka/pseuds/mansikka). Log in to view. 



> So I've been in fandom for over a decade and I've never published a fanfic before, but I was reading a different Buddie fic (see above) and there was a somewhat throwaway line about Chris picking out a yellow toothbrush for Buck and the entire first scene of this fic popped into my head fully formed. It's not set in that 'verse or anything so you don't have to read it first (I may still have to finish it after I dropped everything to write this), but it was really good so far!

It happens in the toothbrush aisle.

It’s their third stop of a long, errand-filled day and Eddie is ready to just be home already, but they needed a few household items and the Walgreen’s was on their way. He can tell Christopher is lagging too and Eddie’s starting to worry that the lack of energy will soon turn into full-on crankiness and maybe even a rare meltdown.

“Hey buddy - how ‘bout you pick out our new toothbrushes, huh? Our old ones are getting pretty gross and if we keep using them for much longer, our teeth might fall out!” 

That gets a giggle and a grin out of his perpetually-good-natured kid and he’s hoping that letting Chris have a role in this little side trip will keep him distracted so they can finish quickly and get home. 

A couple minutes later and he realizes he's made an error in judgement. He forgot about another important facet of his son’s personality - he’s very thorough. They’ve been in the toothbrush aisle for much longer than necessary as Christopher looks at all the two-packs they’ve got on display, making sure he doesn’t leave out a single option for consideration before he even starts to make a decision.

Eddie intellectually knows they’re not in a hurry and he hates to rush Christopher when there’s not a good reason ‒ he already gets enough of that in life when it takes him longer to do tasks that other kids have no problem with ‒ but Eddie thinks he might go crazy if he has to just sit and watch this deliberation process go on for much longer.

“While you decide, I’m just gonna go further down the aisle and pick up the last few things on our list. Will you be okay here on your own?”

Since when did his kid learn how to roll his eyes? 

“Yes, dad. I’m not a baby.” Well that’s him told. Eddie chuckles to himself as he continues on with the basket to pick out some toothpaste and a deodorant refill. Ay dios, will Christopher start needing deodorant soon, too? He is not ready for what a smart-ass that kid will be once he’s a teenager. 

Eddie’s just grabbing the final item on his list at the end of the aisle by the checkout when he hears the clacking of crutches headed his way and he turns to see Christopher bearing down on him with a grin and ‒ a four pack of toothbrushes?

“Buddy, we don’t go through toothbrushes that quickly ‒ you were only supposed to get a two-pack!” Eddie laughs. 

“The yellow one is for Buck!” 

Christopher continues past him down the aisle towards the register with a smile and Eddie’s brain just . . . stops. 

When it finally comes back online, for a second his only thought is “of course”. Of course Christopher would get a toothbrush for Buck, because why wouldn’t he, when Buck has slept on their couch three out of the last five nights that they both had off? Of course Christopher would hear “we” in relation to their family and automatically include Buck, because when was the last time they did any family activities outside the house without inviting Buck along? Hell, Buck had been invited to come run errands with them today and the only reason he hadn’t joined was, ironically, a previously scheduled dentist appointment. 

Eddie would like to think he’s not a total idiot, so yes he’d realized that he and Buck were closer than most friends, but he’s a little ashamed to say this is the first time he’d thought of Buck in relation to “family”. But the instant that he does, he’s hit with a wave of want. He _wants_ Buck to be a part of their family, to be tied to them forever, to always be referred to as part of an _EddieandBuckandChristopher_ unit in a way that already happens frequently, but not quite enough for Eddie’s taste. He wants more.

But what does that even mean? Buck already spends a large part of his free time with them and picks up Christopher from school when Eddie’s covering a shift and he’s even been cooking them dinner sometimes lately, showing off his Bobby-taught skills. So what would _more_ even look like?

He could invite Buck to move in with them, but not only is that not really a thing that friends do (except he’s already established that he and Buck aren’t really normal friends so that part doesn’t really worry him), but also the house is only a two-bedroom. Buck has already been complaining a bit about how his back hurts after sleeping on the couch, so Eddie can’t imagine he’d be thrilled with the idea of sleeping on it after a long shift.

So what does that leave him with? Is he gonna ask Buck to move in and sleep in his room with him? That would never work. That means they’d be sleeping in the same bed and Eddie knows his unconscious is an unrepentant big spoon, so he’d probably end up all over Buck every morning. And while his masculinity isn’t so fragile that he’d mind a little cuddling with his best friend, Buck might. Plus that means they’d be spending literally all their time together, so surely they’d get sick of each other? I mean they currently spend all day at work together and then actively choose to spend most evenings together as well and it’s never happened, but it might. 

Also, Eddie can’t even imagine the chaos that would ensue if they were all three trying to get ready in the mornings at the same time. He imagines himself waking Christopher up, heading back down the hallway to get ready himself, and there’s Buck coming out of the shower. He’d undoubtedly be in a towel because he never remembers to bring clothes in with him, even at the firehouse, so he definitely wouldn’t at home. He’d probably still be dripping, water droplets traveling from his curls down his shoulders and over his chest, finally passing over those defined ab muscles before getting caught by the towel around his wai‒oh. _Oh_. Maybe that’s what _more_ looks like. Eddie is just beginning to consider the implications of this new thought when‒

“Daaaaaad. Are you coming or what?” Eddie snaps back into focus and realizes his precocious nine-year-old has been waiting in line for a register while he had his little crisis, and is now at the front of the line while the cashier tries to hide her smile at his tone and exasperated pose. 

“Yes, yes, I’m coming, mijo.” Squeezing past the two people in line behind Christopher, he puts his basket on the conveyor belt with a commiserating smile for the cashier, who definitely has a precocious child or two of her own at home if he had to guess.

Thankfully they make it through the checkout and into the car with no further shifts in Eddie’s worldview. Once he starts the car, Eddie begins to make the turn to head home when he has a thought.

“What do you think about making one more stop before we head home?” He can see a pair of shoulders slump through the rear-view mirror, but doesn’t think they will stay in that position for long. “I was thinking maybe we’d stop by Buck’s place and see if he’s got plans for dinner or if he wants to join us for that yummy casserole your bisabuela made.” 

He’s pretty sure he would’ve figured out how Chris felt about the idea from the huge grin on his face alone, but the happy scream and the bouncing in his booster seat really seal the deal. 

~~~~

Eddie realizes as he’s pulling up to Buck’s apartment that he hasn’t actually thought about what he’s going to say about why they’re here or if he’s even ready to act on his little revelation, just that he felt like he had to see Buck. Luckily he’s got his own personal energy ball of distraction yelling his name from the back seat, excited as always to see his favorite person, so Eddie can focus on that instead.

Unfortunately, that same distraction promptly abandons him a few minutes later when they’ve made it up to Buck’s apartment (after giving Buck a big hug of course) to go check in on the crystal-growing science project that he and Buck have been working on. As Chris heads to the area behind the stairs where it lives, Eddie just stares at Buck’s happily-surprised-but-confused face and tries to figure out where to start. 

“What are you guys doing here? I thought you were running errands? I mean you know you’re always welcome but I figured you’d be ready to head home about now and get some food.” How has Eddie never noticed how attractive Buck is when he’s surprised? Or maybe it’s the lighting? Or maybe Buck is literally always this attractive and Eddie is just now noticing, thanks to societal norms and born-in-the-South repression, which means he’s going to have a lot of catching up to do on all the appreciation opportunities he’s missed. 

Since Eddie is paying very close attention to Buck’s face, he notices when Buck’s brows furrow even further from his already slightly confused face, which clues him in that he’s missed his cue to talk. It’s okay, he can salvage this, he can act normal‒ 

“We bought you a toothbrush.” 

He’s really getting the full gamut of Buck’s confused faces today, probably because he’s not making a whole lot of sense.

“Uhh, thanks? Except you know I was at the dentist literally this morning, right? Have you ever left the dentist without them giving you a new toothbrush? I already threw out my old one and replaced it with the brand new one so I should be good for awhile.”

“It’s not for here. It’s for our house.” 

Buck’s face immediately clears and he’s back to his default ‒ attractive ‒ face which involves a big smile. Eddie briefly wonders if that’s his default face all the time or if maybe, _hopefully_ , that’s just his default when he’s around Eddie (and Christopher). 

“Ahh thanks man. That’s awesome. I guess I have been staying over kinda a lot lately and the toothpaste-on-the-finger trick can really only cut it so often. Are you sure it’s okay that I’ve been staying so much though? You can always tell me if you guys want me out of your hair. Although I guess if that was the case, I’d tell you that buying me a toothbrush kinda sends the wrong message.” 

Buck is laughing a little as he says it, but he’s started to brush his hand over his head self-consciously and Eddie realizes he’s got a choice. He could make some joke about it ‒ maybe something about Buck’s breath ‒ while still making it clear that Buck is always welcome at their place, and everything would stay exactly the same. Or. _Or_ ‒ 

“Christopher picked it out. I told him we needed new toothbrushes and left him in front of the two-packs and suddenly he’s coming down the aisle with a four-pack. Apparently the yellow one is yours.” Eddie can feel his words speeding up with every sentence and while once again he _knows_ there’s no rush, it feels like if he doesn’t get this out right this second then he never will. “I told him _we_ needed toothbrushes and you were automatically included in his mind.”

The confused face is back, probably due to the frantic tone Eddie can hear coming out his own mouth, but this time it’s overlaid with a bit of a pleased look, probably at the thought of being included. There’s nothing Buck loves more than being included. 

“Don’t you get it? I was talking about our family and in his mind, that just included you automatically.” Eddie can see Buck gearing up to respond and he already knows he’s gonna hate whatever comes out of Buck’s mouth because he knows Buck and his default is always to apologize for his own existence. “And don’t you dare apologize because that is not what I’m looking for here.”

“So what are you looking for, Eddie? ‘Cause I can tell this is important‒” Of course he can because Buck knows Eddie just as well as Eddie knows Buck. “‒but I gotta be honest, I have no idea where you’re going with this.”

Eddie is sure that’s true but he just hopes that Buck isn’t as oblivious to their dynamic as he’s been this whole time, otherwise this next part is gonna come as a real surprise.

“I’m going‒I’m going forward and I’m really hoping you’ll come with me.” He moves on quickly before the confused face can make another appearance. 

“I was sitting there in that toothbrush aisle and I realized that I’ve been an idiot.” Eddie gives Buck a quelling glance before he can say any of the many retorts that are surely running through his head. “Once again my genius son is five steps ahead of me, because he already knows something that just occurred to me. Which is that you _fit_. You fit with us and‒” Eddie has to take a deep breath here because he knows there’s no going back from this part “‒ you fit with _me_.”

That deep breath turns out to be a good choice because he’s definitely planning to hold it until he finds out Buck’s response to that huge declaration and Buck looks . . . stunned. 

“ . . . Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” 

Eddie would ask for clarification but today (and every previous day in their relationship excepting maybe the first) has shown him that he and Buck are always on the same page ‒ plus there’s that pesky holding-his-breath problem ‒ so he just nods. 

Suddenly he’s lacking oxygen for an entirely new reason as he finds himself being enthusiastically kissed within an inch of his life. Buck’s lips are warm against his as he tries to get it together enough to kiss back and make sure Buck knows how much he wants this too. Buck’s hands are on his face and he finally shakes off his shock to wrap his own around Buck’s waist and he’s thinking about moving them so he can feel the strong muscles in Buck’s back for himself except‒

“Ewwwwww. Kissing is gross.” If Eddie had any room for negative emotions in his body, he would feel like the worst father in the world, because he had completely forgotten his son was in the room. Fortunately for him, he is happier than he’s basically ever been, so nothing can bring him down from that high, not even his insecurities.

He and Buck separate a little and Eddie can see his own happiness reflected in Buck’s eyes. While he hadn’t exactly thought ahead and didn’t intend to trigger this conversation literally seconds after confirming his feelings were reciprocated, he can’t regret a thing.

“Well, mijo, I thought kissing was gross when I was your age too, but when you’re older and find the right person, I gotta say it’s pretty great.” Eddie sees Buck grin a little harder at the phrase ‘right person’ before he finally tears his eyes away from Buck to gauge his son’s reaction. 

Christopher is sitting on the floor by Buck’s living room table now and he’s gotten out the paper and markers that Buck bought and keeps in the apartment just for him. It appears Chris decided to draw a picture while the adults were talking, until he got distracted by them . . . not talking. 

He’s got his hands over his eyes like he’s disgusted and doesn’t want to see any more, but he’s also got a big grin on his face so Eddie’s not too worried. 

In sync as always, he and Buck turn to walk closer to the living room area, staying close enough that their shoulders bump with every step just like they always do‒and wow, Eddie really should have noticed sooner. He’s sure their friends are gonna give them so much crap about their obliviousness now that they’re finally together, but he once again can’t bring himself to care.

“Don’t worry Chris, we’re not kissing anymore, so you can take your hands off your eyes.” Chris removes his hands from over his glasses and continues to grin up at them both. “Now I know you think the kissing is gross but it’s also a new thing, so I just wanted to check in and see if you had any concerns about it? Or any questions?”

“Does this mean you’re married now?”

Eddie is grateful that his tanner skin means the heat he’s feeling in his cheeks doesn’t translate to the bright red blush that has suddenly appeared on Buck’s. 

“Not quite, mijo. But we _are_ dating now, which is something people do when they like each other.” Buck ducks his head a little at the d-word, but he can’t fully hide that his smile gets a little wider at the same time, so Eddie doesn’t feel too badly about slapping a label on them without asking.

“Does this mean Buck is going to move in with us?”

Buck appears to have finally found his voice and decided to stop leaving Eddie hanging out to dry on his own ‒ which seems only fair considering he’s the one who kissed Eddie and started this whole mess.

“Not quite yet, buddy. Maybe someday. But I might be staying over more often?” Buck directs this last bit to Eddie, who feels a jolt of heat in his gut at the thought of what might happen during these adult sleepovers. 

“Definitely.” He confirms for Chris and Buck, getting matching smiles and a little cheer from Chris, who loves having Buck over. Apparently deciding that the matter is now settled, Christopher turns back to his drawing and Eddie and Buck finally take a seat on the couch behind him. 

Eddie looks over Christopher’s shoulder to ask what he’s drawing and a sharp laugh escapes before he can stop it. One step ahead as always. 

Chris is putting what looks to be the final touches on his drawing, filling in some grass along the bottom. Above it, there’s a simple square-and-triangle yellow house with three smiling figures next to it. Eddie recognizes the spiky brown hair that signifies himself and the pink smudge above an eye that represents Buck, and of course, they’re on either side of a small figure with glasses. 

What has Eddie literally laughing out loud though is what they’re each holding ‒ in a child’s oversized rendering, they’ve each got something in their right hand ‒ a toothbrush. Blue for Christopher (“like Superman!”), green for Eddie, and the yellow one is for Buck.  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I wrote and published this all today, so if there are any spelling/grammar errors, feel free to point them out! Unless it's about punctuation belonging inside quotation marks at all times, because I recognize the grammar police have made that decision, but given it's a stupid-ass decision, I've elected to ignore it (in certain cases).


End file.
